Robinson Crusoe
Gala Theatre
25th Nov 2017
We launch straight in to the action with the flamboyant Capt Blackheart casting his crew off the plank into the sea! Rolling waves and crashing music give way to the siren's song and the appearance of Aquamarina, Queen of the Sea, fabulous in her watery fountain. She sets the task for Capt Blackheart - to find the Pearl of Wisdom on the Island of Flames he must first recruit a young lad Robinson Crusoe. Only he has the secret to finding the island and the pearl. And so it begins...
This panto is packed full of terrible puns, and awful jokes; poop-decks and parrots are an abundant source, obviously! But it is lifted up a notch by the preponderance of positively perilous tongue twisting alliteration scattered throughout. None of the characters escape this and they deserve a medal for getting through them without tripping up or
corpsing! The song and dance routines upbeat and the choreography by Amanda Woods has a refreshing originality.
The cast do a tremendous job throughout - Neil Armstrong as Horatio "Hooray" Blackheart is a mean but rather understated baddie - he secretly longs for us to join in the "Hoorays" rather than the boos? Lauren Waine's Percy/Polly Perkins has more than a touch of Blackadder in her thigh-slapping delivery. Paul Hartley is completely over the top as Billy Bob, the (ahem) younger brother to Robinson, as he his gurns and flounces his way through the play. Jamie Brown is an engaging hero with just the right amount of innocent naivety. Glamour comes in the form of Jayne Mackenzie as Aquamarina and Paul Dunn as Dame Connie. It's a toss up as to who has the best frock, but Jayne wins hands down on the singing! The youngsters in the cast are all great - stepping up to their moment in the spotlight and delivering with confidence and a good deal of stage presence.
And finally there is John Murdoch as Pecky the Parrot - who saves the day! My one disappointment is that he doesn't get to go through the Cave of Diminishing Returns but I suppose that would have spoiled the ending - I can't explain that any further without spoiling it myself, so you'll have to buy a ticket to see what I mean!
The set is quite fabulous and there are lots of special effects with lighting and props, dry ice and water (watch out if you sit in the front stalls). The scene changes are quick and slick. Costumes are colourful and fun from Blackheart's dandy captain's coat to Dame Connie's ludicrous outfits (my favourite is the shipwrecked barrel and seagull).
This version of Robinson Crusoe bears little (none at all, actually) resemblance to the story by Defoe - there's a desert island and some marooned people and a passing reference to Man Friday but that's about it. Not that that matters at all because this is pantoland and anything goes! The plot is a quest for the Pearl of Wisdom - the baddy (Captain Blackheart) wants it and it will be a bad thing if he succeeds so the goody (Robinson Crusoe) is sent in (unknowingly) to the save the day and redress the balance of good and evil. And isn't that what panto is all about?
Despite having all the right ingredients the cast had a hard job keeping the audience on board last night, though I don't know what more they could have done. It's an early start to a long run for Robinson Crusoe and I'm sure as the season progresses the audience participation will only get better.
Robinson Crusoe is fun, flamboyant and makes a interesting change from the usual fairy-tale panto fayre.
Denise Sparrowhawk
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